This tutorial lays the foundation to participate in the Students' Cloud Observations Online (S'COOL) project. S'COOL engages students in making and reporting ground truth observations of clouds then comparing those observations with data from the...(View More) CERES satellite instrument. Student observations are taken within +/- 15 minutes of the satellite overpass schedule; scientists then use those observations to validate and improve the satellite results. The tutorial covers the following four topics: determining satellite overpass time, observing cloud properties, transmitting results to NASA, and comparing results with satellite-retrieved properties.(View Less)

In this fieldwork activity, students learn that when setting up a research design a system's boundaries are based on the question(s) a scientist wants to answer. Students ground truth, or validate, a pixel within a homogeneous area of a satellite...(View More) image and ask and answer questions related to their observations. Equipment needed to do this activity include a compass and camera. This is a learning activity associated with the GLOBE Land Cover/Biology investigations and is supported by the GLOBE Teacher's Guide, Land Cover/Biology. GLOBE (Global Learning and Observation to Benefit the Environment) is a worldwide, hands-on, K-12 school-based science education program.(View Less)

Images, charts and text aligned to the Students' Cloud Observations Online (S'COOL) project are presented on this PDF version of a two-sided classroom poster. S'COOL engages students in making and reporting ground truth observations of clouds then...(View More) comparing those observations with data from the CERES satellite instrument. The poster includes background information on the CERES instrument, images of clouds by both type and altitude, and charts and text explaining related topics such as surface cover, air pressure, temperature, time, latitude and longitude, and relative humidity.(View Less)

Students will use remotely sensed images and topographic maps to classify land cover types in their watershed. A field trip to specific sites will allow the students to ground truth cover types found on the remotely sensed images and extrapolate...(View More) that information to other sites not visited. Analysis of this data will allow students to explain the relationship between cover types, water flow, and water quality. Supplies for this lesson include a topographic map and satellite images of the area to be studied, acetate or tracing paper, and grease pencils. This activity is part of the Ground Truth Studies Teacher Handbook, which provides more than 20 activities to build student understanding of global change and remote sensing, and includes background chapters for teachers, glossary, and appendices.(View Less)